“We’re going to be looking at a lot of different things” is the way many stories related to Donald Trump start. Inevitably, the presumptive GOP nominee’s constant refusal to directly answer questions from reporters has led to trouble for Trump.
1. Trump Is A Racist
“Donald Trump Refuses to Condemn KKK, Disavow David Duke Endorsement,” is the headline from Time on February 28. The lede of the story is “Donald Trump on Sunday refused to condemn the Ku Klux Klan or disavow his recent endorsement by former Klansman David Duke.”
The story is based off a February interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper who asked Trump, “Will you unequivocally condemn David Duke and say you don’t want his vote or the vote of other white supremacists this election?”
“Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke, OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists,” Trump replied.
Huge news story right? The problem is that two days prior to the interview, Trump said, “I didn’t even know he endorsed me. David Duke he endorsed me, OK? I disavow. OK?”
Hillary Clinton said on March 1, “I was very disappointed that he did not disavow what appears to be support from David Duke and from the Ku Klux Klan.”
2. Trump Wants [crscore]Paul Ryan[/crscore] Out As The GOP Convention Co-Chair
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported Monday: “Ryan says he would step down as convention chair if Trump asks.” This whole news story originates with NBC’s Chuck Todd. Todd asked Trump whether he would ask Ryan to step down as co-chairman of the Republican convention if the House Speaker refused to endorse him.
“I will give you a very solid answer, if that happens, about one minute after that happens. Okay? But there’s no reason to give it right now,” Trump said. Trump didn’t answer yes or no, just said he would wait till that happened to decide. Regardless the media ran with it and TV coverage Monday was dominated by the idea of Trump asking Ryan to step down from the position.
Q of the day! Should Paul Ryan step down as GOP Convention Chair if Donald Trump asks him to? Tweet “YES” or “NO” and use #TheRealStory
— Gretchen Carlson (@GretchenCarlson) May 9, 2016
Paul Ryan offers to step down as GOP convention chair if Donald Trump asks https://t.co/Gaf7jLmeNS
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 9, 2016
Trump never spoke at any rally about this idea, nor even supported it.
3. Trump Wants A Muslim Registry
Charles Koch said in April that one of Trump’s policies is “reminiscent of Nazi Germany.” This is the same policy that Hillary Clinton called “shocking rhetoric.”
The policy they are referring to? A Muslim registry, something Trump has never supported.
The first time a Muslim registry was ever brought was when a Yahoo reporter asked Trump in November, “do you think we might need to register Muslims in some type of database, or note their religion on their ID?”
“We’re going to have to look at a lot of things very closely. We’re going to have to look at the mosques. We’re going to have to look very, very carefully,” Trump replied.
Later that day an NBC reporter asked Trump if, “there should be a database system that tracks Muslims here in this country?”
Trump replied, “There should be a lot of systems beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems. And today you can do it.”
The presumptive GOP nominee would continue to never affirmatively support or denounce a registry of Muslims.
4. Trump Supports Antisemitic Internet Comments
“Late last month, GQ magazine published a profile of Melania Trump. The story was written by Julia Ioffe, who has subsequently been inundated with anti-Semitic death threats from Donald Trump supporters. Or as Trump calls them, fans,” a Gawker reporter wrote recently.
Read the exchange below and see if you can spot Gawker’s manipulation.
BLITZER: But there was these death threats that have followed, these anti-Semitic death threats.
TRUMP: Oh, I don’t know about that. I don’t know anything about that. You mean fans of mine?
BLITZER: Supposed fans of yours–
TRUMP: I don’t know, maybe.
BLITZER: –posted these very angry–
TRUMP: I know nothing about it. You’d have to talk to them about it.
The title of the article: “Trump Refers To Anti-Semitic Hate Army as ‘Fans of Mine'”